Again, as with the American entry, I'm wondering what I should know, and where I should expect to know it. It seems a good amount of you lot have been to Samois, etc., and so should have a much greater grip on these things than I, who has barely been out of my apartment in several years. Thanks for the pity, and the help.

Righty! you've forked out big bucks to get there, don't fall at the first hurdle and refuse to play on campsites because you're a 'professional'.
You'll learn more from the trip than any book/lesson/video ,if you don't it means you have no arms/ears/eyes. Take a guitar. Remember to smile, I wonder sometimes if certain players are actually enjoying themselves. DO NOT charge into any bluegrass tunes, this will provoke a violent response from any non- USA citizen. NEVER hug or kiss any gypsies this too will provoke a violent response. Learn minor swing. DO NOT approach any Brit for a jam without a case of beer otherwise this will provoke a violent response.
Adhere to these simple guidelines and the world of Samois will be your oyster.

Learn the traditional Gypsy greeting of shaking each others testicals. It will indear you greatly into their clan.

Play Minor Swing very very fast.
Play Dark Eyes very very fast.
Play Nuages very very fast
You get the picture. There are just not enough players down there who play fast. What we need is more fast players.

Wear an I (heart) Kenny Rogers T shirt and a G string. (Very cool)

Introduce your self to Steve Royall and expect him to know who the fuck you are? If you do introduce yourself to him bring cold beer and he will be your best friend the week.

Take your own stools. (The type you sit on).

Video every note played or at least mini disk it or you will miss gems like "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "It's a long way to Tiparary". The gypsies like it if you get up really close and video their right hand technique.

Go there, watch testosterone - filled young players play 'Minor Swing, All of me and I Cant Give You Anything But Love' incredibly fast and many times over, FORGET all your painstakingly worked out Django intros and outros to wonderful tunes such as 'Sweet Chorus, In a Sentimental Mood and A Little Love, a Little Kiss', Gratefully give a young player a string to replace one he has just snapped on your own guitar and receive not a nod of thanks, because - hey - he's Djangos grandson and YOU should be grateful!

BUT...meet lots of players from all over the world all equally 'Samois Nervous'. Get a lesson off a mature, well - known Gipsy player who is quite happy to sit for half an hour teaching someone he's only just met. Watch Gipsy guys videoing YOUR right hand technique, because they are big enough to realise that not all of THEM are automatically the best players. Fall off your motorbike after slogging it from god - knows - where to Samois, get picked up, dusted - off and first aided and then fed by a gipsy family and spend the afternoon with them (thus improving your French, Maurice!! )

Basically, expect the expected - but the unexpected too!

Then, with your last day in France, go up the road to the Chope des Puces in St.Ouen (suburb of Paris) and see how it's really done. You get to play as well.

Thanks one and all-One more thing, though: all this seems Samois centered...do things change markedly once you start crossing borders, or does the style transcend a country's influence? Again, God knows when I'll get to any of these places, but the sooner I know, the more I can practice.

yes Jack, it does transcend borders, but not necessarily for the good. The Alsace style was, until a few years ago, very distict from the Parisian, or the Dutch. But all too often one now hears Alsace - based players trying to imitate the Rosenberg style, and Parisian players trying to do the same thing - and in this respect, I can't help but think that Gipsy Jazz to a degree succumbs to the same 'trend' pressures as other, more mundane and popular forms of music. But one can still go to Parisian bars (Chope des Puces, Clairon des Chaseurs and Bistro Eustache) and hear Gipsy Jazz untainted by trendy 'Rosenbergisms'. Again, one can go to Nijmegen (Holland) and hear the Rosenberg Style in it's full glory. I have never been to Colmar or Strasbourg, but I would be interested to hear if the Alsace style has emerged intact from the past ten years of 'Rosenberg' fever.